We have been ready for 10 days and finally got the forecast that we have been waiting for. We went to bed last night knowing that we would leave and were relaxed, however I could not sleep past 2am. I am blessed/cursed with the hearing of a dog even with earplugs in and I kept on hearing an intermittent beeping noise. I tried to ignore it hoping that it would just stop, but then again, “chirp, chirp….”
Trying to hone in on a little sound when you have bridge traffic overhead and a snoring husband is quite a task. I played hide-and-seek with it in the engine room and nav station and did not locate it so I concluded that it could not be anything hard-wired. I went back to bed and more “chirp, chirp….” I checked all the countless battery gizmos in the main salon and no luck. I was finally able to fine tune the noise to either Bob’s side of the closet which is a small labyrinth of clutter or maybe the flybridge directly overhead. I figured that I could get Bob’s help with this in the morning and was able to catch a few hours of sleep.
We were up at 6am for a departure at first light. Bob could not hear the chirping even when I said, “Listen, did you hear it that time?” We both concluded that it did not seem to be anything that we would have to delay getting started on our perfect day. Forecast was for E/SE winds at 5-10 knots with 1-2 foot seas. We slipped quietly out of our dock and headed towards Port Everglades to catch the sun rise.
About 4 miles offshore, we noticed a small hike in speed and had already entered the edge of the Gulf Stream. We were not alone out here this morning and were passed by the “Dynasty Star” cruise boat also heading to the Bahamas. Gary and Rose on “Rose’s Pick” were also readying to leave their anchorage at Key Biscayne for Bimini when we talked to them by phone at 8:30.
We logged 20 miles by 10am and were into a comfortable rhythm with light E/SE winds of 5 knot, 1 foot seas on our quarter and each of us taking an hour on/off watch. We lost sight of land as we advanced further out into the Atlantic Ocean with depths of 1,500 feet. We are Great Lakes boaters and the conditions were very similar to a typical easy Lake Superior day. We went through our trip logs and found that all our longer crossings on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior were more challenging with more wind, weather and waves.
The new variable was navigating the Gulf Stream and getting a speed boost from this current. To ride it to the West End Bahamas from Ft Lauderdale, Bob plotted a course more easterly which allowed the Gulf Stream to carry us north. He took readings every hour to fine tune the course and get an increase of 1 to 1.5 knots in speed.
All was going well until 11am when the autopilot kept shutting down which would then veer us markedly north with the Gulf Stream. Bob finally heard the elusive beeping that kept me awake last night—it was the “low battery” message from wireless autopilot remote control that was stored on the flybridge. With a charge from new batteries, the autopilot was energized and stopped misbehavin’.
The ocean flattened out in the afternoon and the water became dark midnight blue. About 20 miles out from West End, Channel 16 started to become busy and even though we have not seen other boaters for hours, we had company. We caught sight of land about 10 miles out and as the water got more shallow, it turned a neon cerulean blue and then the famous turquoise blue color as we entered the harbor.
We had a bit of excitement crossing the finishing line as we were told that the Customs office closes at 5pm and we were docking at 4:45. We called the Customs office and were greeted by a friendly Bahamian voice, welcoming us to the island and letting us know “no worries.” We have arrived—let the adventure begin.
Trying to hone in on a little sound when you have bridge traffic overhead and a snoring husband is quite a task. I played hide-and-seek with it in the engine room and nav station and did not locate it so I concluded that it could not be anything hard-wired. I went back to bed and more “chirp, chirp….” I checked all the countless battery gizmos in the main salon and no luck. I was finally able to fine tune the noise to either Bob’s side of the closet which is a small labyrinth of clutter or maybe the flybridge directly overhead. I figured that I could get Bob’s help with this in the morning and was able to catch a few hours of sleep.
We were up at 6am for a departure at first light. Bob could not hear the chirping even when I said, “Listen, did you hear it that time?” We both concluded that it did not seem to be anything that we would have to delay getting started on our perfect day. Forecast was for E/SE winds at 5-10 knots with 1-2 foot seas. We slipped quietly out of our dock and headed towards Port Everglades to catch the sun rise.
About 4 miles offshore, we noticed a small hike in speed and had already entered the edge of the Gulf Stream. We were not alone out here this morning and were passed by the “Dynasty Star” cruise boat also heading to the Bahamas. Gary and Rose on “Rose’s Pick” were also readying to leave their anchorage at Key Biscayne for Bimini when we talked to them by phone at 8:30.
We logged 20 miles by 10am and were into a comfortable rhythm with light E/SE winds of 5 knot, 1 foot seas on our quarter and each of us taking an hour on/off watch. We lost sight of land as we advanced further out into the Atlantic Ocean with depths of 1,500 feet. We are Great Lakes boaters and the conditions were very similar to a typical easy Lake Superior day. We went through our trip logs and found that all our longer crossings on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior were more challenging with more wind, weather and waves.
The new variable was navigating the Gulf Stream and getting a speed boost from this current. To ride it to the West End Bahamas from Ft Lauderdale, Bob plotted a course more easterly which allowed the Gulf Stream to carry us north. He took readings every hour to fine tune the course and get an increase of 1 to 1.5 knots in speed.
All was going well until 11am when the autopilot kept shutting down which would then veer us markedly north with the Gulf Stream. Bob finally heard the elusive beeping that kept me awake last night—it was the “low battery” message from wireless autopilot remote control that was stored on the flybridge. With a charge from new batteries, the autopilot was energized and stopped misbehavin’.
The ocean flattened out in the afternoon and the water became dark midnight blue. About 20 miles out from West End, Channel 16 started to become busy and even though we have not seen other boaters for hours, we had company. We caught sight of land about 10 miles out and as the water got more shallow, it turned a neon cerulean blue and then the famous turquoise blue color as we entered the harbor.
We had a bit of excitement crossing the finishing line as we were told that the Customs office closes at 5pm and we were docking at 4:45. We called the Customs office and were greeted by a friendly Bahamian voice, welcoming us to the island and letting us know “no worries.” We have arrived—let the adventure begin.
